


what the book didn't say

by tsurai



Series: Redthorne 'verse [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bipolar Anders, Depression, Drabble, M/M, Originally a Tumblr drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-02
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-28 14:16:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8449474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tsurai/pseuds/tsurai
Summary: Any copy of Tale of the Champion will tell you that Anders and Justice were willing to die for their cause, but not that Hawke reminds them to live for it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm reposting this old fic [from tumblr](http://tsuraiwrites.tumblr.com/post/126431046471/fic-what-the-book-didnt-say) because I'm in the process of writing a small sequel. never gonna quit this pairing. *shrug*

Any copy of _Ta_ _le of the Champion_ will tell you that Anders and Justice were willing to die for their cause, but not that Hawke reminds them to live for it. It’s Hawke that hauls them off the crate into his embrace, kissing the corner of Anders’ mouth. “I’m fucking angry with you for not telling me, but I forgive you,” he says, “Now let’s kick some Templar ass.” And despite the protests of their companions (“Fuck _off_  Sebastian") they head into the Gallows.

It’s Hawke fighting side-by-side with them once more, calling on Justice for firepower and Anders for healing that pulls them from the edge. And when Justice strikes Meredith hard enough that she rears, calling on more power that backfires and turns her into a twisted horror of lyrium and metal, Hawke’s there at their elbow. It’s he who prods, “Remember Emile.”

Anders calls the former Circle mages to him, takes them out to the docks where Isabela’s ship waits.

“Are we really doing this?” Anders asks.

“We did not prepare for this sort of aftermath,” Justice murmurs.

“All of life is aftermath.” Hawke takes their hand. “We just have to live it now.”

They aren’t runaways, nor refugees. Varric sends word that the Starkhaven circle has sent for the Rite of Annulment and its all Anders can do not to let Justice rage his way straight to the bastard’s palace. They rip the parchment apart with glowing hands. “What do we do?”

Hawke looks up from the staff he’s carving for one of the little ones. “What we have to.”

Circle towers are unprepared for any kind of assault, let alone one that begins on both sides – one coordinated by the famous Kirkwall apostate and the other led by Starkhaven’s First Enchanter. (contacting Feynriel for help was well worth the effort.) They win with minimum mage casualties and Anders can barely breathe for the looks of wonder on the former prisoners’ faces as they touch the earth and grass for the first time in decades. Instead Justice shines through, no longer something to be feared but a beacon of hope for those bucking against the Chantry.

Thedas calls them rebels, calls Anders the spark that lit the slow-burning fuse. Calls Justice a demon. Calls Hawke a traitor.

Hawke, who walks a step behind them these days. “This is your story. I’m here for you.”

And some nights Anders battles demons that Justice cannot slay, demons that spring from his own mind and heart. He has doubts and guilt that manifest in manic energy or the dark hours where Anders wants to beg “just let me go.” Those are the nights Hawke puts aside the letters and the continuously-reworked manifesto, calls Merrill to let people know not to bother them. He tucks them into bed with tea made of elfroot and Johnathan’s wort, then cradles them close to tell Anders about his day: the people he met with – to route supplies or hear concerns from the mages not yet used to their new life – or the games he played with the children and all the foul language the Anders will have to spend the next week unteaching them.

It’s not perfect – Justice still edges around the yawning chasm that threatens to swallow them whole – but it’s something. They have a goal, one that no longer calls them to martyr themselves in the name of everything they hold dear.

Hawke strokes their hair as justice grumbles and Anders feels his mood lift, just a little. A dream, a goal, where they lead the world to peace with the mages and freedom for all.

With Hawke it doesn’t feel impossible.


End file.
